Michigan relics

The Michigan Relics (also known as the Scotford Frauds or Soper Frauds) are a series of alleged ancient artifacts that were "discovered" during the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. They were presented by some to be evidence that people of an ancient Near Eastern culture had lived in the peninsula of North America now known as the U.S. state of Michigan prior to the era of Columbian contact with the New World. Many scholars have determined that the artifacts are archaeological forgeries. The Michigan Relics are considered to be one of the most elaborate and extensive pseudoarchaeological hoaxes ever perpetrated in American history.